


Cooking Up Trouble with Rom and Benjamin

by deepcreek



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Cooking Lessons, Fatherhood, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 03:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12160758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepcreek/pseuds/deepcreek
Summary: Five ways that Rom and Ben are more alike than they thought.





	Cooking Up Trouble with Rom and Benjamin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snoozlebee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snoozlebee/gifts).



> This is a Star Trek Rarepair Swap gift for snoozlebee, who had only seen this pairing done in a jokey fashion. Naturally I decided to get seriously tender with it.

  1. The Paths of Sons



The first words Rom ever says to Ben are, “Jake is leading my son down a bad path.”

Quark has introduced him as “my idiot brother” with no mention of Nog, but there aren’t exactly a dozen young Ferengi males on the station, are there?

Ben stiffens into his uniform. “I could say the same about Nog.”

Kira and Quark have somehow moved behind the bar and are intent on a conversation that involves not looking at the two fathers or noticing their lowered voices.

Rom stabs an accusatory finger towards Ben, then realizes who he is talking to and thinks better of it. “N-Nog was never any trouble until you humans got on the station! Now he’s been in Odo’s office eight times in the last month. If your bumbling son wasn’t there to slow him up, Security would never have caught him!”

Ben looks down his nose at the little Ferengi in front of him. “In my culture, Jake’s lack of criminal ability is an asset to him.”

“Well, then your culture is wr-wrong! Out here, you can’t always be following the rules if you want to survive.”

Ben is astonished at Rom’s tenacity, not to mention his frankness. “Mr. Quark,” he calls over his shoulder as he exits the bar, “would you please remind your brother that I am assigned to uphold the laws on this station?”

 

  1. Gumbo



Rom is uncomfortable in Sisko’s office. It hasn’t been remodeled much since it was Dukat’s, and there’s a residual (hopefully) smell of fear in the air.

“So if I just show my brother the, the versatility of the program, he might add it to the holosuite rotation--”

Sisko’s left eyebrow is raised. “You’re asking me to cook with you?”

“Yes?”

+++

Rom is astonished by the array of spices laid out on the holosuite’s prep table—not to mention the mysterious pink tubular thing and the curled things with the translucent shells. He snatches one up and pops it in his mouth while Sisko has his back turned. The flavor is a little mild, but it has a nice crunch and a lovely smooth texture inside.

“On Earth we cook and peel those before eating them. They’re called shrimp.”

Sisko is still chopping the small green hexagonal vegetables, his rhythm unchanged. Damn! Quark said human fathers grew eyes in the back of their heads, and Rom is starting to believe it.

“Your shrimp are a little plain for me,” Rom retorts, covering his embarrassment with an attempt at aggression.

“The flavor comes out when they cook. You’ll see,” says Sisko calmly. He’s moved on to the spicy white vegetable, which is making him cry a little (?!).

In the end the gumbo is so delicious that it leaves Rom without a critique for his host. So he doesn’t say anything at all.

 

  1. The Paths of Fathers



Ben looks up from his desk to see Rom standing in his office. He jots down a note to Kira in military caps about MY OFFICE IS NOT A PUBLIC SPACE before acknowledging the Ferengi.

“Do all human males cook like you do?” is Rom’s response to Ben’s greeting. Despite the fact that it’s shaping up to be a hell of a day, Ben laughs.

“Oh, no. My people sometimes don’t like to see men in the kitchen. It was once a sign of servitude. But my father is the best cook in Louisiana.”

“What’s Lousiana?”

“About 15 million humans.”

“Your father must draw in a lot of latinum!”

Ben cracks up again. “Not really. Cooking isn’t a status job, and his ingredients can be expensive. But the social support system on Earth these days means he gets by just fine.”

Rom nods understandingly. “My father also got by.”

Ben sets down his writing supplies, aware that he’s being trusted with something of great value. “That’s hard to live with on Ferenginar, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Ben breathes in and out through his nose so Rom won’t hear him sigh. “Listen, I have to resolve a shipping dispute and then I have a briefing, but why don’t we do dinner in the holosuites? I can teach you how to make shrimp and grits.”

 

  1. Missing Songs



Rom is humming as he cuts up the vegetables, and Ben laughs a little, bitterly, under his breath. The knife pauses.

“What is it?”

“Jennifer used to sing when she was chopping things, too.”

“Your wife?”

“Yeah.”

Rom puts the knife down. He puts his arm around his Sisko’s waist, leaning into his shoulder.

“Thank you,” says Ben, a little surprised. He feels Rom’s nod against his side and blinks back tears. Dax is really the only one who has hugged him since Jennifer’s funeral.

“I used to sing to Nog when he was a baby,” Rom says softly, “but Prina said it annoyed her, so I stopped.”

“I’m sorry you did.” Ben wraps his arm around Rom and gives him a squeeze. “You have a lovely voice.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

They hold each other gently in bed that night, exchanging soft kisses. Ben falls asleep to a Ferengi lament, “Love has no profit in it”, which Rom had not sung for fifteen years.

 

  1. Make It Work



Ben rivets an intentionally trashed slave-labor station into an attractive trading port, and Rom holds it together with chewing gum and string. When they discover that Rom prefers sleeping in a hollow and Ben on a flat surface, they take a penknife and a blowtorch to the mattress foam.

They hold each other together, too, through Rom’s fears about what Starfleet will make of his son’s bluster and gentleness, through Ben’s uncertainty about Jake’s dating habits and reluctance to leave home. They are imperfect fathers together.

Ben is preparing a roux, and Rom is peeling the shrimp. He eats one of the shells, crunching it between his teeth with a happy little noise.

Ben looks at him fondly over the steam. “Do you remember the first time we made this together?”

Rom laughs. “I was so worried you’d interrogate me about Quark, I’d re-wired the holographic safeties twelve times!”

“You know I’m on your side, Rom.” Ben’s expression is serious and tender now.

Really, he’s still a little astonished by it, but all Rom says is, “Yeah.”

The height difference is always a challenge when Ben kisses him.

They make it work.


End file.
